Green bean casserole, the ultimate holiday side dish, gets a keto makeover! This healthier green bean casserole recipe features a rich sauce made with white wine, and a crunchy cheesy topping.
Yes, I know that green bean casserole is typically eaten during the holiday season, but why limit yourself? It strikes me as a perfect spring side dish, perhaps something to be with your Easter dinner.
And this keto green bean casserole strikes all the right notes, with the particular umami you can only get from homemade mushroom sauce. No canned condensed soup here, just fresh ingredients and bright flavors.
Trust me, making your own creamy mushroom sauce isn’t much more work than opening a can of soup, and it’s so worth it. Not only do you avoid all the junky ingredients but you also get an incredible depth of flavor.
Why Use Actual Cooking Wine?
Not everyone is comfortable with cooking wine, which is why I partnered with Holland House Cooking Wines to show you how. They have a wide selection of flavors, everything from white and red to marsala and sherry.
And they are developed to be ideal for cooking, standing up to the heat of the pan and the flavors of your dish. This way, you don’t have to open a large bottle of your drinking wine, just for the recipe.
Cooking wines can enhance the flavors of many recipes. The alcohol evaporates during the cooking process, so only the flavor remains. Cooking the wine down and reducing it helps concentrate the flavors, bringing out both the sweetness and the acidity.
It also helps deglaze the pan when you are searing foods at high temperatures. What does that mean? It means adding a cold liquid to a hot pan to help release the foods and delicious browned bits that are stuck to it.
Ever sear some meat in a skillet and have it stick badly? Don’t yank it up! Add just a ¼ cup of cooking wine and the food will release easily. And then let it reduce while scraping up the browned bits and you will have the most delicious sauce to serve.
How to make keto green bean casserole
I will admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of the usual green bean casserole, with the canned or frozen beans and the heavy mushroom soup. I want my beans to be fresh and still crisp and my mushrooms to be sautéed to perfection.
This keto green bean casserole has both attributes, with a delightful cooking wine-infused sauce. The white wine offers a slightly dry, but distinctive flavor, perfect for cooking lighter dishes. Plus a cheesy, crunchy topping made with crushed Parmesan crisps. So yummy and so much healthier.
A few tips for making this classic low carb side dish:
- Get nice fresh green beans. They should be plump and crisp and easily trimmed by snapping the ends off. Sauté the beans until they are bright green but still crisp, as they will continue to cook in the oven.
- Cook the mushrooms in butter until they are nicely browned, to bring out the umami flavor. Add the garlic at the end of cooking the mushrooms.
- Add the Holland House White Cooking Wine at this point to soften the mushrooms and to enhance the flavor. It provides a unique acidity to the sauce that you don’t get in traditional green bean casserole. Simmer until the cooking wine is reduced significantly.
- No need to use flour to thicken the sauce. Simply add the cream and bring to a boil, then simmer until it is the thickness of a thick creamy soup.
- You don’t have to add shredded cheese to the top of the casserole but it makes it extra delicious.
- Using crushed Parmesan crisps gives a wonderful crunch to the topping, in place of the high carb fried onions. I simply put my parmesan crisps in a plastic back and crushed them with a heavy spoon.
More delicious keto side dishes
- Creamy Keto Mashed Cauliflower
- Keto Flatbread with Mushrooms and Sage
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
- Easy Zucchini Casserole
- The Best Keto Stuffing
Cheesy Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 lb green beans washed, trimmed, and cut in half
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 6 ounces crimini or button mushrooms sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Salt and pepper
- ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan crisps crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a large skillet, heat the avocado oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the green beans and sauté until bright green, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
- Add the butter to the skillet and let melt, then add the mushrooms and cook until browned and they have begun to release their juices, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Add the wine to the skillet and let cook until reduced by about two thirds. Stir in the heavy whipping cream and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened, 4 or 5 minutes.
- Stir in the green beans and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a medium baking dish and sprinkle with the mozzarella. Bake 20 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with the crumbled parmesan crisps and bake another 5 minutes.
Video
Vicki says
This sounds so good! Any ideas how to make it dairy free?
Carolyn says
Sorry, I don’t really know. I don’t think cheese replacements melt very well.
Kathy Cooke says
Fantastic! We all really liked this. I used coconut milk in place of the heavy cream for less dairy and couldn’t taste the difference. I probably added about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. I liked the crunchy topping.
Pat says
In the 2nd photo of all your notes for this Healthy Green Bean Casserole recipe, there is definitely a chicken looking up from behind the garlic bulb. It’s kind of strange, since I was expecting a turkey…
Thank you for your WONDERFUL gift, an amazing Keto Thanksgiving with all the fixin’s!
Closing laptop, headed for kitchen.
Carolyn says
That’s hilarious. It took me a bit to get it but I see it now!
Tamera Alexander says
We had this for Thanksgiving. Gracious, so good!!!
Aimee Shugarman says
We just had this for dinner and it’s fantastic. My kids loved it too.
Tanya Schroeder says
This casserole is so much better than the bean casserole I grew up with!
Ashley F says
We love the healthier twist on this family favorite!
Katerina @ diethood .com says
YUMMY!! I can’t wait to try this!! It looks incredibly delicious!!
Rachael Yerkes says
one of my favorites! so yummy
Sharon Rausch says
I learn so much from you as well! Thank you so much for sharing your helpful information.
Red in Keds says
Used chardonnay in place of the cooking wine and homemade Parmesan crisps… Was a hit at Easter dinner. Thank you!
Claudia says
Can you use coconut milk or coconut cream in place of the heavy cream for dairy-free?
Corrie F. says
This was absolutely amazing! I followed the directions exactly and the whole family raved about it. Will be making this for company.
Carolyn says
So happy you liked it!
Aimee Shugarman says
My new favorite side dish. Will be making again this weekend, so tasty!
Suzy says
Going to add this to my Easter menu!
natasha says
perfect easter side dish! can’t wait to feed these to the whole family!!
Anne Dalin says
Love this recipe, but cooking wine had 190 mg of sodium. Real wine only has 7mg. As any good chef will tell you, if you can’t drink it, don’t cook with it.
SusanLevine says
You are so right, but Holland House is doing the sponsoring for the recipe.
Anna says
Great holiday side dish!
Laura Reese says
This looks delicious, what a great twist on a classic recipe.